UCC members: The materials these questions relate to will be emailed to you immediately after the September 23, 2012 class. Please reflect on the passages cited and try to answer the questions on your own.
Other readers: See the Creation 2.0 page to find the materials these questions relate to.
1. John writes —
(Rev 5:9-10 ESV) 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
(Rev 22:3-5 ESV) 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
John plainly expects us to be priests and kings in heaven, but also on earth before then. We’re priests and kings now! Why? What does God expect us to do as his kings and priests?
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2. How is God’s reign as king different from the reign of most earthly kings?
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3. Do you struggle to imagine God as having the same heart as Jesus? How do you see that they are different? Is that really right?
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4. Moses writes,
(Exo 24:9-11 ESV) 9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
Where did God transport the leaders of Israel to? How do you suppose they understood being in God’s presence with a floor “like the very heaven for clearness” colored blue?
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5. Why didn’t God kill them, since they’d seen him?
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6. What brought these men this close to God?
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7. Moses wrote,
(Exo 29:43-46 ESV) 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
List all the things that God promises regarding his tabernacle.
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8. What was the significance of God dwelling among the Israelites?
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9. Moses concludes Exodus with —
(Exo 40:33-38 ESV) 33 And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Why do you suppose that Moses figured this was a good place to end the book?
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